Midnight raid: NHRC order against Bharti quashed

The Delhi High court Friday set aside the NHRC order against former law minister Somnath Bharti related to his controversial midnight raid in Khirki Extension.

A vacation bench of Justices S. Muralidhar and Manmohan Singh set aside the Sep 29 order of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that held Bharti guilty of "racial prejudice and unlawful acts" against 12 African women.

The court also directed the NHRC to hear the matter afresh and pass a detailed order by taking into account the evidence lead by Bharti in his defence.

The bench further directed Bharti to appear before the commission on the next date of hearing in January while disposing of Bharti's appeal against single judge's decision that dismissed his petition against the NHRC's Sep 29 order.

Bharti in his appeal, filed through advocate Deepak Khosla, has contended that the single judge had dismissed his plea as "premature" without "allowing fair opportunity to explain the facts of the situation before the NHRC and the legal grounds on which the writ petition was eminently maintainable".

In his plea, he has sought that the commission's order be declared a "nullity" as it was passed without giving him an opportunity to lead evidence in his defence.